♪ ♪ ♪ imus in the morning ♪ >> romney won. that's the universal judgment even the left. even the far left says the president lost. i never expected them to admit it. good morning, everyone, governor romney took control of the debate. he was dynamic, informed and very much on his game. and the president was not. he looked tired, he was not on top of the issues.

even before the debate was over, the verdict came pouring in. romney won. and this morning, virtually every headline, every pundit left and right gives a strong edge to the governor. but the new york times just couldn't bring itself to admit their guy had a bad day. they hedged. obama and romney spar over fixing the economy, they said. well, dare i call this a romney rally? i will tell you that stocks will open up today. the day after the romney win. "varney & company" is about to begin. you'd be targeting stocks to trade. well, that's what trade architect's heat maps do. they make you a trading assassin. trade architect. td ameritrade's empowering web-based trading platform. trade commission-free for 60 days, and we'll throw in up to $600 when you open an account.

>> october 4th, a lot happened during last night's debate. we have 90 minutes worth of back and forth to choose from. we will pick only the best moments for you. mitt romney was the clear winner because he was focused and forceful. here is one example. clear example of romney attacking the president, the

topic is energy. >> but don't forget, you put 90 billion dollars, like 50 year's worth of breaks, into solar and wind, to -- solyndra and fisker and tesla. i have a friend you don't just pick the winners and losers, you pick the losers. stuart: we've not seen that kind of attack from mitt romney before. but from the president what we got was more of the same. >> what when i walked into the oval office i had more than a trillion dollar deficit greeting me and we know where it came from, two wars that were paid for on a credit card. two tax cuts that were not paid for. stuart: all right, i'm making the judgment that romney won. it's not just me, however, the perception that romney won this debate is widespread. even among the liberal media. headline from "the washington post" "rejuvenated romney hammers obama on his economic record" the los angeles times "a lackluster obama, a revived

romney". unabashed obama supporter chris mathews was even disappointed with his guy. >> where was obama tonight? i don't know what he was doing out there. he had his head down, he was enduring the debate rather than fighting it. james carville, also noticed a new attacking style from romney. quote, mitt romney came in with a chain saw. and this tweet from bill maher. >> i can't believe i'm saying this, but obama looks like he needs-- he does need a teleprompter. well, coming up at ten o'clock. the top of the hour, eastern that would be, we will talk to brent about the media coverage of this debate. here is a question for you. by ten o'clock eastern, will the establishment media have rallied around the president, will they have a new tone by then? that will be new at 10. please go to our facebook page and give us your opinion on the debate and i want to hear from you, whether or not you are supporting president obama or not. i really want to hear from anybody who thought that president obama won the debate

last night. come on, chime in. dare we call this a romney rally? futures up as we firmly count down the to the opening bell of the market. we have that and much more from last night's debate coming up. u turn an entrepreneur's dream... ♪ into a scooter that talks to the cloud? ♪ or make 70,000 trades a second... ♪ reach one customer at a time? ♪ how do you help doctors turn billions of bytes of shared information... ♪ into a fifth anniversary of remission? ♪ or turn 30-million artifacts... ♪

into a high-tech mastpiece? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it.

man on tv: ...rbis and 36 homers. swings at the first pitch and fouls it deep back into the stands. [ding] [fans whirring] announcer: chill raw and prepared foods promptly. one in 6 americans will get sick from food poisoning this year. check your steps at foodsafety.gov.

>> now, a couple of moments ago, almost chokingly getting a romney rally on the stock market. of course, the widespread opinion is that governor romney won the debate last night and it's absolutely true to say that the stock market will open higher this morning, we're expecting a gain of 40, maybe 50 points, when that opening bell stops ringing and the trading day starts. [bell ringing] would you call that a romney rally? i'm not serious popping this. is it a pure coincidence, i'm not sure, but some people will say this is a romney rally. we will be discussing that later on. and check the big board since the trading day has now begun and the opening trend is indeed to the upside. we're expecting, 40, 50 points in about 2 or 3 minute's time when everything gets rolling along. i'll tell you that gold is close to 1800 this morning. we have hewlett-packard shares, they're now the at the lowest level in nine, count them, nine years, the company warned of declining profits of revenues in the next 12 months.

it doesn't sound good. so, nicole, where is that stock opening this morning? >> another new low he again today. i know we've only been trading 34 seconds, but the new low is 1467. this dates back to the early 2003 year for hewlett-packard. you heard meg whitman yesterday talking about the challenging environment and the year ahead is fix and build. the acceleration 2015 and we see selling down 12 1/2% this week alone. stuart: this is important because hewlett-packard is one of the great names of technology, printers, computers, a range of products, they're one of the greats of american technology and now down to a nine-year low. that's not a happy company. meg whitman runs it and has her work cut out for her. >> she's trying to turn around the company and talking about fix and build and they will have layoffs. everybody was hoping for a lot more, a lot faster and when you see the stock is down just 13% this week, obviously,

disconcerting. stuart: can you get the stock price up by chopping away at the work force? very interesting question. nicole, thank you very much indeed. the dow industrials opened 40 points higher the first 90 seconds of business, there you go. gas prices, we bring you this news up only slightly. 3.78 for regular and diesel 4.08. the big story within the gas price arena. california, due to refinery problems there are gas price spikes in some individual cities and i say, i mean spikes. look at this, up 10 cents overnight. 4.40. regular is the average there. and san jose up 9 cents at 4.37. san francisco, 9 cents. 4.43. los angeles up 8 cents, this is overnight, by the way, 4.34. and believe it or not, those prices are forecast to go as high as 4.80 by this weekend. refinery problems, up goes the price of gas in california. however, president obama will still win california by at least

10 points, hmm. what we saw in the debate last night was a stronger, more forceful mitt romney. and not just with president obama. he took control of the moderator, jim lehrer, look at this. >> jim, the president began this segment so i think i get the last word so i'm going to take it. >> you're going to get the first word in the next segment. but he gets the first word of that segment and i get-- let me just make that comment. and let me repeat what i said, i'm not in favor of a 5 trillion dollar tax cut. stuart: where was that mitt romney the entire campaign. was that the strategy, surprise people at the debate and out comes the new mitt? joining us is pete snyder and works for the romney campaign in virginia and a fox news contributor. pete, was this a deliberate strategy, keep the guy under wraps and release him, at the first debate? >> stuart, no, i don't believe there is any underwraps strategy. this is mitt romney, the governor. this is mitt romney the take

charge ceo. and stuart, with all the tv ads, with all of the, you know, the campaigning that's out there, never have we had an opportunity to have governor romney and president obama toe to toe. and what did we find out? for the first time in four years, something that we all expected, the emporer has no clothes. there was no plan for turning around america. only a defense of the status quo. and excuses about, and blame games out there. i mean, where was the hope and inspiration that barack obama usually has. stuart: and look what's happening in the establishment media right now. literally as we speak. their immediate reaction was, they accepted that romney won. that was the immediate reaction after the debate. now, at 9:34 eastern time they're popping up and starting to come back to fight back. joe biden says, where are the specifics from governor romney. he failed to explain that romney would raise taxes on the middle

class. he's coming right back at you. they took the defeat and coming back at you. what's your answer? >> well, it's going to be more excuses and negativity out of the obama campaign, which is no surprise because stuart, their record, as you have stated several times, and as we see from the new unemployment numbers being ratcheted up again, they have a horrible record on the economy, and more so, for the first time tonight, the american people realize that they have no plan whatsoever in getting us out of it. so, i think this is a huge pivot point for america and for the romney campaign. stuart: okay, so, look, you work in the campaign. and you-- >> i volunteer, my friend. volunteer, but we're slugging it out. stuart: you know what's going on with the campaign. has there been a pivot in strategy after what happened last night. are you now coming out swinging? is this candidate, governor romney, is he, are we now going to see him go on the attack? >> stuart, i don't think there's going to be any change in strategy, meaning, ceo mitt romney always existed there.

this was the first opportunity for america to take a good hard look at him. i'm going to be out on the campaign trail in the shenandoah valley of virginia and mitt romney and paul ryan are coming to the number one battle ground state in the country today. you're going to see fire, you're going to see ideas. you're going to see specifics and a plan to turn america around. that's what we're all looking for. stuart: okay. well, we're very interested to see it. i think last night might have been a pivotal turning point. and thank you for joining us again, good luck this afternoon with the candidate and the vice-president candidate. >> thank you, stuart. stuart: as for the crucial swing vote, pollster frank luntz got instant reaction from 24 undecided voters right after the debate. the results extraordinary. and we'll show you exactly what those 24 people said. that will be new at 10. should come as no surprise, facebook now has more than a billion users. still, all those people are not helping the stock. shares are down more than 40% since the may ipo, so, nicole,

it crossed a billion, where are they now? >> well, the stock has an up arrow. it's interesting, because mark zuckerburg is saying it's unbelievable that they're able to keep a billion active users in touch with one another each month. and obviously, a big milestone for facebook and so, the stock here at 22.18 is up 1 1/2%. it's not up 38 dollars the ipo price. stuart: keep hearing the same thing, af got a billion people, you can't make more money out of a billion people, that's the question. >> mark zuckerburg would say stuart, double down now. you heard him saying exactly that. the hugest buying opportunity of all time. stuart: nicole, thank you very much indeed. at 24, was it, facebook 24? i can't remember. >> 22 and change. stuart: let's not jump the gun. and 13-5 is where we are. now, everybody, watch where we are, aim going to talk baseball.

miguel cabrera of the detroit tigers is the first player to win baseball's triple crown in 45 years, this is big, even i know that. he led the american league with .330 batting average, that's terrific. 44 home runs, and runs batted in and helped the tigers win their division. the baseball playoffs start tomorrow. congratulations, sir. time is money, and 30 seconds, here is what else we have for you today. mitt romney is getting criticized for his comment about big bird. but does pbs really need our money for sesame street? it could be a stand alone profit center, couldn't it? we have the numbers and we'll give them to you. and dan henninger, says thanks to last night's debate we have a real presidential race on our hands. dan will be here and as for the media, leftist newspapers and commenttators are in unanimous in the agreement that romney won the debate last night. i'm shocked. we'll ask the media watch dog about it and see if their tone

changes by ten o'clock this morning. remember, we do want to hear from you. e-mail us right now, varney@foxbusiness.com, we've reached some of them on the air, occasionally. 7 early movers this thursday morning. applied materials expects to reduce the global work force by 1300 positions down a fraction. and marriott international swung to third quarter profit. all right, 39 for marriott. up nearly a buck. medical device company, new basics outlook disappoints, bad news for any stock, down 30%. yeah, no, is that 30% or 22? i can't see, 32%. september sales rise more than expected at costco, that's interesting, the stock's at $100 a share. unilever is considering the sale of a big name that you know, skippy peanut butter. apparently the margins are just not good you enough in the pee he nut butter business and unilever wants to sell. up a fraction. facebook, a billion users, down 40% since the may debut at 22.20, it's up a little today.

and rival google said planned job cuts at motorola mobility unit will cost about $340 million in severance and other costs. and google at 760. the dow is up 36. mitt romney wins the debate on two key issues, jobs and taxes. the governor finally goes on the attack, defeating the president on all economic issues in my opinion. and the business world responds after the break. you [ male announcer ] at scottrade, we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our teams have the information you want when you need it. it's anothereason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade.

0t[h7's anothereason more investors are saying... that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and save you up to thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs.

call today to request a free decision guide to help you better understand what medicare is all about. and which aarp medicare supplement plan works best for you. with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients... plus, there are no networks, and you'll never need a referral to see a specialist. there's a range of plans to choose from, too. and they all travel with you. anywhere in the country. join the millions who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations... and provided by unitedhealthcare insurance company, which has over 30 years of experience behind it. call today. remember, medicare supplement insurance helps cover some of what medicare doesn't pay -- expenses that could really add up. these kinds of plans could save you up to thousands

in out-of-pocket costs... you'll be able choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. and you never need referrals. so don't wait. with all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. call now to request your free decision guide. this easy-to-understand guide will answer some of your questions, and help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that's right for you. >> to the dow industrials. it's only a tongue in cheek statement when i suggested this might be a romney rally. tongue in cheek. and where are we this morning,

88 a barrel. big drop yesterday and not much of a comeback today. let's get to the debate. all important. here is one of the reasons it's being called a romney win. >> why is it i don't want to raise taxes, why don't i want to raise taxes on people and you said back in 2010 you said look, i'm going to extend the tax policies that we have. i'm not going to raise taxes on anyone because when the economy is growing slow like this, when we're in recession, you shouldn't raise taxes on anyone. well, the economy is still growing slow, as a matter of fact it's growing much more slowly now than when you made that statement. stuart: let's bring in brian gardner, head of washington policy research at kbw. brian, you heard that. are you satisfied with romney's answer on taxes? did he clarify his position on taxes? >> he not only clarified it you he was so emphatic on it he finally made a connection on people why his policies are better than the obama policies. i thought an absolute home run

hitting on pro growth economic policies. he hasn't emphasized enoughment he did a masterful job on it last night u wow, you thought he won. >> absolutely. stuart: let me move on to jobs. show you what he said on jobs and get your reaction to it. >> look at the evidence of the last four years, it's absolutely extraordinary. we've got 23 million people out of work. or stopped looking for work in this country. it's just, we've got. >> all right. >> when the president took office, 32 million people on food stamps, 47 million on food stamps today. and economic growth this year. and slower than last year. and last year, slower than the year before. going forward with the status quo is not going to cut it for the american people who are struggling today. stuart: okay, going forward status quo, not good enough. did romney layout a plan for growth, growth in jobs, growth in the economy? >> he emphasized jobs more than probably any other topic he talked about last night. along with tax and deficit reduction, what he did, he connected the dots from a

critique of the obama administration's record and where they have failed, to the emphasis that would be in the romney administration and he tied the two together. about how he would make lives better for the average person going forward. and then, he took another step and showed how he's a problem solver, that economic growth is actually an engine for curing some of the fiscal challenges because he-- though there's a great line that he had last night about how more people working, pay more taxes and helps reduce the deficit and really looked like a problem solver last night. not just like an ideologue the. stuart: you eat this for breakfast. what about the average person, don't know what a fiscal cliff is. and looks at two candidates going at it over jobs and taxes. what impression would they walk away from last night? >> i think that romney made a really great argument why the

obama administration has no plan for next year in the romney view. and secondly, how they took their eye off the ball in the first administration and in looking at health care first and not enough on the jobs side of the equation and i think romney connected with people in saying his first focus is economic growth and job creation, and i think he did a very, very effective job of that last night. stuart: brian gardner, i appreciate you being with us. jobs, taxes, appearance, approach. we've got it. thank you very much indeed. a little earlier this morning, i'm going to the gold report. about 90 seconds early. sorry about that if i have upset your routine, i did want you to see that. gold is getting close to $1800 an ounce. 1,789.60, we're up 9.80 as of this morning. and i want you to check out the latest cover of news week. this is the coverage of news week, can you read it clearly? the democrats' reagan?

what? assuming a second term? carol roth and general beala our post debate company and we have business and politics coming for you. newsweek, can you believe that? newsweek is our first topic. ♪

>> we've been comparing this election race this year to the 1980 campaign. we're doing that a lot here on "varney & company." but we have been saying the president, president obama, is like jimmy carter. and somewhat of an unpopular incumbent. look at the latest edition of newsweek. a picture of president obama with the headline, wait for it, the democrats' reagan the and the subtitle what obama will achieve in his second term. carol roth and jedia, you first, welcome, that's a stretch, isn't it? >> it's hilarious, reagan ushered in a real recover than had a fake recovery as obama does. this is media spin and claim this is a great or atore and came out before the debate and that was not a reaganesque performance last night.

reagan was a guy that could relate to americans, expressed empathy, was not arrogant and down to earth in his delivery, the complete antithesis of barack obama. he brought down the unemployment rate and did good things for the company. he doesn't usher in a phony recover. the comparison was absurd. stuart: reagan you ladies don't remember him. and i do. president obama is not reagan. >> maybe they meant something different. maybe they meant ronald reagan was an actor and president obama is the democratic actor. stuart: that's a stretch. a day after the debate i've been saying on our program this morning, i think that romney won hands down, flat out. and the liberal media has largely gone along with that. romney won. am i going overboard. >> you agree, i agree, the twitter verse agrees. he came out and nailed it. the first time we've seen mitt

romney come out on offense, and barack obama played defense. and he was very, very crisp shall the entire time. he started with a great story, he came out and he connected with the people, and he laid out five point plans and hit small businesses right there up front and from that point on. and a lot of our viewers in california just waking up. barely seven o'clock in the morning there. just waking up. and i don't think they expected to wake up to this kind of news about the debate last night. >> especially for folks in the media for people like bill maher and michael moore and everyone on fox news. cnn. and liberal conservatives coming together and enormous win for mitt romney. that's not something that you see all the time. and he held barack obama accountable for failed policies. this is the mitt romney that could win the election.

>> we have plenty more to go with this debate in the next hour, including the swing voters. how were, were they swayed? the answer is yes, and really telling and plus media watch dog, brent bozell. do the positive headlines for romney start now, will the media change the tone and do it because of this. >> how many of you thought barack obama was the winner tonight? and how many of you thought mitt romney? ...seems like you guys got a little gassed out there.

enough already. c'mon guys. next question. hello! what's your favorite color? what's my favorite color? yes. purple. what's your favorite animal? sea turtle. what's your bedtime? do you believe in space aliens? ...i love puppies. hash browns or home fries? home fries. do you like my dress? why can't you guys ask good questions like this? [ morgan ] for a chance to interview an nfl player... join visa nfl fan offers and make your season epic.

stuart: the biggest lowry of the day, mitt romney's winning last night's debate. even the liberal press is calling it a win. will the establishment media change the coin. are they coming back on the attack? we will ask brent bozell about that. the direct result of romney's win, swing voters decided repro romney. we have a video that tells will hold story. to the big board, i got to tell you i wasn't working at the stock market. it is 3.36% of the personal that is the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average from freddie mac. who would have thought that? down again. yet another new record low. on the big board we are 40

points. tongue in cheek i call it a romney rally. facebook, 1 billion users. tell me that the stock is up. >> to tell shareholders it was back to the $38 ipo price. that is not the case. it is an up arrow around $22. billion active users for social media company facebook. they are celebrating and happy with it. stuart: there is a store i used to go to called the gap. it fell through the floor. now i am told it is back to a ten or even year high. >> bring out the bells and whistles or trumpets. this stock is back to levels i have not seen since 2000. they have the same store sales

better than expected. it was struggling and slowly but surely it moved its way up. a little turtle or whenever -- the train that could. so far so good. stuart: i get the point. look at the dow industrials. we are up 30 to points. among the goal we got an interesting number. factory orders down 5.2%. the biggest drop since 2009. is that an economic indicator? down 5%. no impact on the market. dow still up 31 points. now to our new at 10:00 for. reaction from independent voters to the debate last night. a focus group watching the debate. here is what they say. >> how many thought barack obama was the winner tonight? how many del mitt romney? 13 of 24 people voted for obama

and only 2 -- 10 voted for mccain. big deal. >> he has been dried up to this point and talked about leadership and bipartisanship. >> he was able to talk about social issues. we understand his business background and how well he has done but we haven't heard anything substantial. that is what changed my mind. i heard what i needed to hear from him. stuart: that has more meaning than all the headlines in the media this morning because that is real people reacting to a debate they watched all the way through. those people he assembled the legal 24 of them were independents. they were swing voters who could change their mind. that is real. >> it is incredibly powerful. you have these independent voters finally getting to see who the real mitt romney is. that is the issue. they are not sure who he is. is he a leader? he proved he has those leadership qualities especially when you put him on a split

screen with barack obama. obama was tentative and on the defense and struggling to put words together and mitt romney came out and acted very presidential and that came through. stuart: one word? >> and saying he could work with democrats and worked with democrats in the legislature in massachusetts proved he can sit down and work with people of the opposing party and get things done. something barack obama is incapable of doing because he is a fierce ideologue. stuart: not the nasty rich guy -- [talking over each other] >> going to sit down and make things work. competence is what people are craving right now. stuart: i will say something i try not to do very often. i was wrong. i thought no matter what happened the liberal media would paint the debate as an obama victory or at worst day tie. the performance was so stunning on the part of mitt romney even the most liberal newspapers and columnists had to acknowledge

it. had line from the washington post rejuvenated romney hammer's obama and his economic record. the l.a. times, lackluster obama, revived romney. dennis: use. where was obama tonight? i don't know what he was doing out there. he had his head down and in during the debate rather than fighting it. james carville saying, quote, mitt romney came in with a chain saw. only the new york times had the. its headline says obama and romney in first debate spar over fixing the economy. that is a hedge. let's bring in branch brent z boze bozell. i am astonished the few in the liberal media would admit that romney won. >> kind of said last night before this started unpredicted

romney was going to win and the media were going to say romney lost which is what they always do but they couldn't because it was such a pharaoh complete victory by romney. understand what is going on. you are not completely wrong here. watch the counter spin. it already started. it is all about how obama was lackluster. obama was and firing on all cylinders. obama was an prepared. all those things may be true but that is just the beginning of it. not just that romney was prepared and the opposite is romney had facts and romney had an argument to make and romney -- obama had nothing. if they were to cover that it would show just how bad the situation could be for obama so instead they do it stylistically. he had a bad night. it is worse than that.

stuart: the media has had time to regroup and look at last night's loss and come back strong in favor of president obama. quick sound bite from david axelrod speaking earlier this morning on a broadcast network. look at this. >> you can tell the american people up is down and down is up and ignore history and ignore your statement. you can square the circle and mitt romney will be held accountable for that. >> we will continue to address that but will we hold the governor accountable for his fraudulent positions? yes we are going to do that. stuart: that was on msn b c. coming back, making allegations of fraudulent, the tone has changed all over again. >> that is all they have got. i thought mitt romney made a terrific point when he said in commercial and interview with the media coddling them they get

away with character assassination but he couldn't do it face to face to mitt romney. he tried a couple times and mitt romney slapped him like a mosquito. that is the problem with these debates but look how they follow up. if you say something enough it sticks and you will see the media over and over again saying how he had a lackluster performance and it is all about style. not about content and was about content. stuart: one week from today as the vice-presidential debate. how will the media treat the veep's debate? >> it will be a draw but they will give it to joe biden because he will demagogue this one against paul ryan with the medicare thing and the media will eat it up. look forward to the next debate. no matter what happens i can tell you what the headline is. rejuvenated obama stays his

ground and wins. stuart: absolutely right. i look forward to it. i look forward to seeing that you are dead right yet again. what a pleasure. thanks for joining us. here is another question following last night's debate. is this a turning point in the entire election? dan henninger error says yes. at long last we do have a presidential race. dan henninger rejoins the company later this hour and will romney keep the momentum up? at 10:37. here is what you are saying about the debate on our facebook page. if you thought president obama won. we didn't get any like that. here's what we got. jean said last night was a game changer. fence sitters no longer on the fence. romney may have won the battle but the work remains. he has to keep momenm and have plans in place ready to go.

keep your comments coming. interesting debate on facebook. here is why you may be calling this a turning point. romney pulled no punches. it was forceful listen to how he addressed the president's energy policies. >> don't forget you put $90 billion, 50 years worth into solar and wind solyndra and i had a friend is it you don't pick winners and losers. you pick losers. stuart: pretty good and kind of new. meanwhile we heard the same story from the president. blame bush. >> one of walked in the oval office i had a trillion dollar deficit. we know where it came from. two wars paid for on a credit card. two tax cuts that were not paid for. stuart: let's start with you. romney had fact that figures. president obama looked like he

was a little out of touch. >> when it came to energy one of my favorite points was romney talking about how oil and gas production is up but on private land. on public land that is not the case. it is down. i wish he had more time to point out all the rigs that had been shut down by obama's policies and overregulation. when it came time for specifics and a vision moving forward and time to point out what has been holding the economy back romney was on point. barack obama was standing there looking like he didn't know what was happening in this country. almost as if he hadn't been the guy in charge. stuart: that $90 billion statement rammed into the president. $90 billion. fifty years of subsidies. that was telling. a good use of statistics. >> romney was a strong on statistics and strong on the economic policy. the one thing with barack obama wants you with incredibly vague. he couldn't put the entire

picture together. he kept going back to go back to lincoln and clinton. the fact is when clinton was president the economy was very different. you can't say the same policies that worked under clinton will work when we had over 8% unemployment for 43 months straight. that is where romney showed his strength. stuart: let me draw your attention to the stock market. in the last couple minutes we have seen the dow go straight up. we are now up 96 points getting close to 13-6 on the dow industrials. top of the hour we got the 5% drop in factory orders. that suggests a weakening economy. we got a 3.36% rate on 30 year fixed rate mortgages at an all-time low. maybe that suggests a lot of money printing by the fed and a weak economy. i don't have another explanation why the dow is up 95 except that. lousy factory orders means ben bernanke will print bigger.

>> no bad news out of europe. everyone is focused on europe and not what is going on in the economy domestically. a lot of schizophrenic information. great manufacturing numbers early in the weekend bad numbers today. can't make sense of that. stuart: i won't say it was a romney rally. >> if you did i would back you up. stuart: wait a second. let's be serious. we are five weeks from the election. we have had one debate and a result that favors romney. can you really say the dow up 1900 points is a result of romney's win? >> i think it gives it some additional momentum. it gives a little bit of a boost because romney is the choice of wall street. he is good for the market and good for the economy. the people who work on wall street and work for big business and small business in this country want romney to win so they will be keeping a close eye on all of these debates.

stuart: you have convinced me. it wasn't fun in cheek. you are right. we just heard from swing voter the clear victory for romney and on tv. what was the feeling like for the people who were in the room on the spot? we talk to someone who wasn't room. that is next. you see us, at the start of the day. on the company phone list that's a few names longer. you see us bank on busier highways. on once empty fields. everyday you see all the ways all of us at us bank are helping grow our economy. lending more so companies and communities can expand, grow stronger and get back to work. everyday you see all of us serving you, around the country, around the corner. us bank.

governor of getting it done. you know how to dance... with a deadline. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. this is awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is, business pro. yes, it is. go national. go like a pro.

stuart: all of a sudden the stock market moved up. our industrial are up 98 points. the top of the hour we have factory order number is down 5.2%. biggest drop since 2009. the latest mortgage rate 3.3% record low. little earlier this morning jobless claims 367,000 newly unemployed people higher than last week. the big employment report comes out tomorrow. why is the dow up nearly 100? maybe it is a romney rally. maybe i was right. the price of oil back to $89 a barrel. i want to show you gas prices steady at $3.78. big spikes in california. los angeles one example $0.08 overnight. refinery across california. more on that debate. all energy development comes with some risk,

but proven technologies allow natural gas producers

to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. stuart: mitt romney said something causing outrage in some circles as especially on twitter and facebook. the governor said he wants to get rid of big bird. we play the sound bite and you will be side. we have been talking about this all morning. we saw it on tv. what was it like to be there in the room? what the atmosphere was as we perceive that.

joining us is walker stapleton, colorado's state treasurer. i want to know how soon in the room did people realize romney was winning? >> being in the room the president -- most people saw split screen at home. the president's greatest moment was at the start of the debate when he was talking about his wife and their anniversary. from then on he was drowning and struggling to keep up with romney and to keep up with the pace of the debate. in terms of body language he was looking down and looking away from the podium. he did not looking gauge the wanted to be there. look like he would rather take his wife out to dinner. stuart: you were in the room. you can feel the mood of a live crowd. did you feel a rapid mood shift towards romney in their room? >> i was seated next to a huge obama supporter fund-raiser. he seemed like he was demoralized for most of the night and deflated and the scuttlebutt afterwards that the president held his own and there

was no blood they were not proclaiming any victory. it was representative of the defensive posture the candidate took. most people are talking about this 47% that romney could have been hit with and i expected him to be hit with that but on the opposite side of the issue romney should have talked more about gas prices. you have gas prices in the $4 range hitting $5 in some states. directly hits people's wallets. this election will hinge on relating to the middle-class's fear of being able to pay for their cars or get a mortgage and romney did good job of that. stuart: was the room divided? romney on this side and obama that side? >> they make it all up. there were romney people and obama people next to each other. stuart: if you look at the crowd could you tell who was for romney and to was for obama? could you tell? >> not really. the student a little more

because students wore t-shirts for romney or obama but people generally dressed pretty nicely and there were some gasps and moans but most were respectful of a format and it was hard to tell but afterwards there was talk about how each candidate did. >> was there any comment that elicited surprise from the audience? >> i am not sure. i think most people were surprised that obama wasn't really engaging on any particulars of the issues and didn't seem like he wanted to challenge any of romney's the surgeons and didn't seem engaged in that debate format. i don't know if that was a tactical thing to appeal to the camera -- stuart: was he tired? looking at home late at night for me and i was tired but he looked real tired. was the in person? >> he might have been. i think both candidates were tired.

we know that an election does not hinge on the outcome of one debate that this was a very important moment for romney because he was able to connect to people in a way he struggled to before. he was able to talk about economic issues in a format people at home could understand and relate to and obama did not seem engaged at all and in a close election when talking about swing states like ohio and west virginia where you will have middle-class workers who will decide this thing that is where the election will hinge so from that standpoint i think romney was effective last night and obama's performance seemed wandering to me. stuart: you are state treasurer of colorado. you rivera and appreciate you reporting directly on the mood of the occasion. thanks. appreciate it. i have more on the debate. it is my take. i will look at one particular angle on the debate. there will be my cake and it is next.

♪ [ male announcer ] this is karen anjeremiah. they don't know it yet, but they' gonna fall in love, get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married, they'll find some retirement people who are paid on salary, not commission. they'll get straightforward guidance and be able to focus on other things, like each other, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade.

>> tv ads, campaign out there never have we had an opportunity to have governor romney and president obama to go to toe and what did we find out? for the first time in four years

something we all expected. the emperor has no clothes. stuart: that was mitch snyder with his take on last night's debate. catch more on "varney and company". tune in every day at 9:20 eastern. look at this. the dow jones industrial average is up 90 points. i want to bring in nicole petallides because i want to ask an important question. appear on camera please. there you are. if this is not a romney rally, what is it? here is why i am asking for question. financials are very strong. romney pledge to repeal dodd-frank. energy stock very strong. romney made a big pitch and produce more american energy. is this or is this not a ronny rally? nicole petallides. nicole: this absolutely can be a -- [talking over each other] nicole: i am a journalist first.

absolutely. when you talk to traders on wall street a majority, 90% or more will say governor romney is the better choice, better candidate for business and growth and job creation and such. you can go with that theory definitely. one of the traders was talking about obamacare and wanted to know if that would cover president obama himself after last night's will thing. stuart: that is very cool. but good. thank you very much. it can be a romney rally. recovering investment banker carol, you think it is. >> i think it adds to it. i don't think we can give the entire thing to romney but adds to it. stuart: you are hedging again. >> you have to hedge your bets. >> romney is good for the economy. barack obama has been bad for the economy. i am not a market --

[talking over each other] >> take the uncertainty out of the market. stuart: the price of gold. the price of gold is $1,800 an ounce and up 12 bucks. the trey mine midland england background. let's say the price of crude is $89 a barrel. that is the. stocks up and oil up. that is interesting. ronny won. here's my take. here is my cake. ronny won. he won on debating style and demeanor and even won on looking presidential. here is my take on another aspect of his victory. he won the policy debate for the future of the country. that is the most important item of all. romney forced president obama to face his dismal record on the economy and expose the failed leftist policies that put our prosperity at risk. endlessly the president returned to his tax the rich seem.

the grim reality of the last four years is a result of his all government all the time administration. he lost the policy debate. better yet more than that romney won it. after the first half-hour it was obvious where he wants our economy to go and how to get there. he clearly laid out the case for tax reform. he told america in straightforward terms how tax reform let's as grow and create jobs. he beat back the canard about raising taxes on the middle class and went on to win the debate on energy. he won on education but most important of all he presented an optimistic view of america's future. growth and prosperity. optimism. isn't that what we all want? i've been a superintendent for 30 some years at many

different park service units across the united states. the only time i've ever had a break is when i was on maternity leave. i have retired from doing this one thing that i loved. now, i'm going to be able to have the time to explore something different. it's like another chapter.

♪ stuart: american airlines pulls 47 planes for inspection after a third incident involving loose seats. they are blaming it on an improperly installed seat locking mechanism. moving on. from the wall street journal, borrowing from the obama

campaign that mitt romney has an identical twin. whoever that guy representing the gop ticket was in denver has just given united states a real presidential election at last. that was the first line from a column this morning. dan joins us now. you stayed up all the way to the night. i know you did. you were not expecting that, were you? >> stuart, no one was expecting that. no one would have predicted that outcome. that was off the charts. now, i think, we have an election and a new baseline set for the new campaign. stuart: was it a pivotal point, not just in the polls, but the entire campaign? >> it is a turning point. romney, whatever happened to obama, romney did set down a new set of arguments.

he talked especially well about economic growth in the relationship to growth and spending. he said you could do three things to growth. cut spending, raise taxes or you could get more employment in which people pay taxes to reduce the deficit. at least he is putting down a real argument. he did the same thing with healthcare and regulation. stuart: i just said a moment ago that i think you want the policy debate. that is separate. that is all about how you come across. romney said something about a trickle-down government. >> a very critical pivot moment for me when he used the trickle-down. he changed that to a government dialogue. he said that obama believes in government trickle-down. >> one of the biggest questions this morning is what happened to

barack obama. you know, all of his pals are dumping on him and saying he needed a teleprompter. i tell you what i think happened there. this is the same president who they have enjoyed giving campaign speeches which consist mainly of standing up there and ridiculing and mocking his opponent. the audience laughs it up. the pundits laugh it up. the fact is he has stopped thinking about public policy and he never expected to be in a debate with someone who had done his homework the way romney did. as a result, he was completely unprepared. stuart: the president of the united states goes into a crucial debate five weeks from an election and is not prepared? >> it just pours off of this president. i think he thought it would be easy. he really has to do no more than

state it. that has always been his style. he has never been forced to defend his ideas in depth. now he will have to. stuart: here is how they are coming back. there is a come back. roll the tape please on david axelrod speaking early this morning. >> you cannot tell the american people up is down and down is up and ignore your history and ignore your statements. you cannot square the circle and governor romney will be held accountable for that. the president was addressing that last night. will we hold the governor accountable for his fraudulent positions, yes, we will do that. stuart: that was from msnbc earlier this morning. dan, that was a reboot towards attack mode. >> well, i guess they assume the fact checkers will save them

now. i kind of dow it. by and large, my impression was mitt romney was sticking pretty closely to established ideas and articulating them in ways he simply has not done to this point. stuart: whether it is 23 million unemployed or not. people do not react to a debate in those terms. i like this guy. i don't like this guy. looks like a president. doesn't look like a president. >> what we have been saying, stuart, i think the american people, who do pay attention to the elections, were looking for mitt romney to not simply assert that barack obama has failed, but to explain to them why he has failed and how he would do things differently. that is precisely what he did in detail in that debate last night. that is what i think you have a reboot here and a new election in the next five weeks.

stuart: everybody was surprised. dan hettinger, thank you very much, sir. we know him as the traitor and a cow jacket. he actually does run a farm with cattle, among other things. his name is scott shelby. he is next.

♪ stuart: it is a pretty solid

stock market rally. the dow industrials are now up 89. maybe the market do like that mitt romney is still in the race. factory orders down big, but not as bad as expected. maybe that is helping a little bit. jobless claims. we get the big jobs report first thing tomorrow morning. now i look up oil. bouncing back this morning after a big drop yesterday. eighty-nine dollars a barrel right now. gold getting much closer to $1800 an ounce. back in 90 seconds with something different for you. normally we see scott shelby at the cme, today we will see him on one of his cow farms, literally. that is next. ♪

stuart: let's get back to nicole petallides. look at that. 2.5%. nicole: the financials really are flying high. you have been asking the question about the romney rally. an informal survey, all the guys on the left said yes and the guy on the right said no. the other thing is we have a weaker dollar today. significantly weaker. i can help these financials along. all of the financials are doing very well today.

stuart: all right. we will take that. a decent explanation. we will take it. usually, we talk to scott shelby at the floor of the cme in chicago. right now we are going to his farm. that is where scott joins us from today. all right, scott, you raised cattle, is that correct? >> yes. we have beef cattle on this farm. and i said yesterday, we had milk cattle. i am pretty familiar with what hard work means. stuart: the one the debate last night? >> absolutely romney. there is a small town of about 300 people around here where i watched it in a local tavern. the folks in the tavern had the same worries that we do in the city. and down, everyone in that tavern felt like you and i did. stuart: you are a cattle farmer,

don't you like subsidies from the federal government? isn't president barack obama tried to bribe you with some subsidies? >> i think things have been going so well now that that is not really the case anymore. the big businessmen, which farmers are, they do not rely on that clutch anymore. you cannot put a farmer out of business with the weather, but you may if you back over his mailbox. that is not the case anymore. it is good old-fashioned work and there are no shortcuts. stuart: i was joking, scott. i hope you know that. i am a tree farmer myself. i am not looking four subsidies from president obama or anyone else. >> it is a good honest days work and you sleep better. the oxygen that you get out here is much better than in the city.

it is a pretty good life. stuart: what a life. scott, we are so glad you joined us down on the farm today. we appreciate that. good luck to you. hope the weather improves. there was one thing that mitt romney said last night that caused some outrage in some circles. especially on social media. it was about big bird and funding for public broadcasting. that will be next. >> i will stop the subsidy to pbs. i like pbs. i love big bird. i like you too. ♪ everyone has goals. take the steps to reach yours, with us with real advice, for real goals. the us bank wealth management advisor can help you. every step of the way. from big steps, to little steps. since 1863 we've helped guide our clients, so they can take the steps to help grow,

preserve, and pass along their wealth. so their footsteps can help the next generation find their own path. all of us serving you. us bank new pink lemonade 5-hour energy? 5-hour energy supports the avon foundation for women breast cancer crusade. so i can get the energized feeling i need and support a great cause? i'm sold. pink lemonade 5-hour energy? yeah and a portion of every sale goes to the avon foundation for women breast cancer crusade. i'm sold. new pink lemonade 5-hour energy. get the alert, energized feeling you need and support breast cancer research and access to care.

stuart: there was at least one source of controversy. mitt romney's speech last night. >> i will stop the subsidy to pbs. i love pbs. i love the paper. i actually love you, too.

stuart: i am told that this caused an uproar. that is nonsense. >> people on twitter were all up in arms about this. the challenge that everyone focuses on is the headline. no one wants to see big word go away. it makes $45 million from merchandising alone. it only cost them $70 million for them to produce their show. "sesame street" can survive. stuart: what is the subsidy? can you put it on the screen? how much does the taxpayer give? if we took that subsidy away, big bird would still be around. >> i think it is a plus. i think we get about 100 million. we give to pbs about 20% of their total budget.

>> you can bring in corporate sponsors. advertisers. there are other ways for pbs to save money. i wore a big bird t-shirt that morning. stuart: it caused outrage. >> enormous. [ talking over each other ] >> i think it enabled mitt romney to point out that we have a president that does not understand free-market. stuart: drinking game, young people. every time the president or mitt romney said certain things like "fair share," everyone in the group has to take a drink. >> i do not drink alcohol, so i was taking vegetable juice

shots. [laughter] >> it is a common game. it keeps you paying attention, although, you may get a little drunk. stuart: fair share. >> or corporate jet. stuart: what else? >> pretty much any of his typical, you know, class warfare nonsense. >> there was a whole slate of the usual stuff. stuart: let me be clear -- if he says that not everyone drinks a shot. >> yes, that is how it works. stuart: all right, everybody, we had fun today. romney won. the highlight reel is next.